Neighborhood Meeting: Bed-Stuy « Brooklyn Food Conference

Neighborhood Meeting: Bed-Stuy

posted by brooklynfoodconference, on June 19, 2009

Okay, so the Brooklyn Food Conference has come and gone, but here it is June and things are still happening. That’s the way it was meant to be. The conference was intended to be the launch of a long-term effort—a Brooklyn Food Coalition, an ongoing network to bring all of us who care about food together so we’d gain from each others’ efforts, have a stronger voice and help build a movement. First step: Check in with the grassroots. Underway right now is a series of neighborhood meetings where we ask ourselves: What are the most important food issues in our neighborhood?

I have been to meetings in four neighborhoods over the past 10 days: Bed-Stuy, Kensington/Ditmas Park/Windsor Terrace, Prospect Heights/Crown Heights and Park Slope. They all have different concerns, the faces are different, but always I am invigorated by the ideas, impressed by the people, inspired by the activities they’ve launched on their own, and touched that this matters to so many people.

These are some notes from the June 4th Bed-Stuy meeting.

: Hattie Carthan (1900-1984) helped found the Bed-Stuy Neighborhood Tree Corps, Green Guerrillas (who threw water balloons filled with seeds into vacant lots) and Magnolia Tree Earth Center (where the meeting was held). Photo by animalvegetable

Organizers: Ajamu Brown, Rev. Robert Jackson, Erica Lonesome
Who Was There: About 20 people showed up at the Magnolia Tree Earth Center, including some speakers at the Food Conference: Ajamu Brown (from Just Food), Reverend Robert Jackson, Reverend DeVanie Jackson (both of Brooklyn Rescue Mission) and Yonnette Fleming (of the Hattie Carthan Garden). The rest of us were a diverse bunch—about half people of color, ages spanning three generations, a few more females than males, and in addition to the many activists, there was someone in marketing, an attorney, someone organizing a new food coop and of course quite a few parents.

This first meeting was loosely structured to encourage new ideas and explore possibilities. The only goal was to start narrowing down what food issues are most important in Bed-Stuy. Ultimately, our goal will be coalition—how can a Brooklyn Food Coalition support what we chose to focus on?

Exploring the Issues
We started by looking at the list of food issues that was used as a questionnaire at the Food Conference.

Getting healthy foods to all neighborhoods
Expanding number of food coops
Advancing environmental sustainability in agriculture
Improving school food
Growing food at home, community gardens and urban farms
Getting more people on to food stamps
Expanding labor rights in the food industry
Changing international trade policies
Shifting subsidies away from agricultural business to local farmers
Teaching kids and adults about food and health

spacer

As for Bed-Stuy’s most critical food issues, here are some of the thoughts from our 90-minute brainstorm:

Let’s Get New Healthy Food-Related Businesses into Bed-Stuy: Ajamu Brown said he’d like to see something to help new businesses (sustainable food-related businesses) get started. (Blogger’s note: Another neighborhood meeting talked about FRESH, NYC’s new program to encourage fresh food retailers to open in under-served neighborhoods by offering significant financial and zoning incentives. “We could go to our Community Board meetings and urge them to make food coops eligible for the FRESH incentives,” someone suggested.)

Power of Networks. Over and over, throughout the meeting, people mentioned how working together helps us to tap into efforts of others working for related causes.

“I’m excited to see our groups come together like this. Maybe we’ll be able to do something together to adjust some of the existing systems.”
“We live in New York City. A lot of what we need is already there, and we can build on the databases and structures of existing systems like the NYCHA. All we have to do is make a model.”
“I’d really like to know this is a network that I can turn to for support.”
Paula Segal volunteered to put together a database. See Action Steps below.

spacer

Change Takes Time. Making a change within oneself—like breaking a habit or changing a diet—can take months or years. We seek to build a movement and all here recognized that this evolution, as ready as we are for it, will take time.

“Our effort will not be a one-month effort, it will not be a three-month effort or even a one-year effort. If you really want to see a change in people’s lives, it will take at least five years.”
“It begins with dispelling myths, and it’s hard, slow work, but then people start to get it.” These first two comments came from seasoned community activists who have seen their work take hold.
“Everyone’s coming from a different way. How can you expect someone to want something if they’ve never been exposed to it? Do we want people to be consumers and that’s it?”
“Take your time to plan because it shows respect.” Don’t tell people what they need. Take your time to find out who they are, who’s doing what and who has power in the community (like Parent Coordinators in the schools).

spacer

Myths to Dispel. If changing our food system begins with dispelling the myths, as the experienced activists in the room attested, here are some of the myths the Bed-Stuy folks have come up against:

Food sellers think that people in Bed-Stuy don’t want to pay for produce (”Even if you try to give it to them for free, they won’t take it,” someone told the speaker.) Reality: People travel from Bed-Stuy to the Union Square farmers market to buy fresh produce. “We can’t assume that the population doesn’t want or can’t afford it,” said Rev. DeVanie Jackson.
People think processed food is faster and easier. Reality: Once you learn what to do with fresh foods, it can be quick and simple. Yes, sometimes cooking a fresh meal does take longer, but the act of making our own food feeds a family in another important way.
People think people in the projects don’t care about good food. Reality: A lot of people do care, especially the older folks. But they don’t know how to speak up for themselves and they’re scared.
People think organic/fresh food is more expensive. Reality: Junk food can be really expensive too, especially when you consider its cost not just in dollars but in health risks. Also fresh food has different prices in different neighborhoods. It’s cheaper in Park Slope than in Bed-Stuy.

spacer

Education, Education, Education. Education is the empowerment of the community to know. Maybe education is not a separate issue but rather a critical part of each issue. Some messages to communicate:

Connection of diet with asthma, diabetes, behavioral problems and obesity.
It’s not only knowing what food is good for you but also how to prepare it. Let’s bring cooking back into the kitchen.
Shortening the distance between who grows the food and who eats it. Not just to save petroleum but so we reconnect with a food’s origins. And those origins are not just where it was grown in but also who grew it, harvested it, packed it up, unloaded it from a truck, cooked it, etc. Farm workers and food workers are not very respected or well paid.

spacer

“Let’s break into committees and start,” suggested an enthusiastic participant as the meeting drew to a close. Another wanted a clear goal and guidelines for this group so she’d know if it would give her the support she needs for her own organization. But this group is still in a delicate stage of forming and had accomplished its goal of beginning to explore priorities. We would begin to clarify our goal and guidelines in the next meeting, scheduled for June 15th. Same time, same place.

Some Upcoming Events

Malcolm X Blvd. Community Farmers Market opens July 11. Saturdays 8-11 until Nov. 7. Malcolm X Blvd. Between Chaucey and Marion Sts. In front of Jackie Robinson Park
Hattie Carthan Farmers Market opens July 11. Clifton & Marcy Aves. Saturdays, 8am - 3pm same dates, Saturdays, 9-3 until Nov. 7.
1st Annual Herb Festival. Hattie Carthan Community Garden (Marcy & Lafayette Avenues) on Sunday, June 21. 10:00am- 5:00 pm. The day will begin with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the herb garden and the sound of African drums. Herbal workshops, cooking demonstrations, weed walks, Chinese herbs and a plant council. Freshly brewed homemade herbal beverages, herbal breads and healthy cuisine for sale. Proceeds go to starting up our community farmers market. 718-638-3566 or hattiecarthangarden(at)yahoo.com
Cooking Classes at Brooklyn Rescue Mission. June 18-Aug 9, how to prepare farm-fresh foods, cooking/nutrition lessons for families and adults. Another class for teens starting the week before. Contact Brooklyn Rescue Mission 718-363-3085.

spacer

Action Steps

Let’s start building our network. Send Paula Segal a one- or two-sentence description of any and all Bed-Stuy food-related projects you’re involved with by Sunday, June 14 at 5:00 pm. She’ll compile a list and bring copies to the June 15th meeting.
Reconvene in two weeks. Next meeting will be on June 15th at 6:30 with the aim of defining our goals and how we propose to meet them.

spacer

A Few Neighborhood Facts (from the NYC Dept of Planning, unless otherwise noted)

56—Number of Community Gardens in Bed Stuy (from Yonnette Fleming at the meeting)
6%—Percentage of bodegas in Bushwick and Bed-Stuy that carry leafy greens. (Check out Green My Bodega and Going to Market: NYC’s Neighborhood Grocery Store and Super Market Shortage.)
143,867—Population in 2000. (For demographic breakdown, see American Community Survey PDF)
2.9—Number of square miles that make up Brooklyn Community District 3 (most is residential, 6.1% is vacant land)
Over 350—Number of churches in Bed-Stuy (from Heaven’s Gate)

spacer

Health Statistics

Diabetes & Obesity, NYC Community Health Survey from 2007. PDF

New York City Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2004. How to conduct a survey in your community. more

spacer

Resources

Neighborhood Meetings. Attend one in your neighborhood. schedule
Brooklyn Community Board 3 (on NY Gov. site | contacts/office hrs)
Community Food Organizing Models. From the Brooklyn Food Conference. more
OASIS NYC. It stands for Open Accessible Space Information Cooperative. (Well, it almost spells oasis.) A Web site helps you find open spaces in New York. more

WHY. World Hunger Year’s Food Security Learning Center. more

BK Farmyards. Did you ever walk by a patch of soil littered with broken bottles and think “that could be…”? BK Farmyards is making it happen. They’re calling it “a decentralized farming network.” They’re “seeking partnerships with developers willing to temporarily transform their idle land to farmyard, homeowners who want to eat from their own yard, and city agencies holding under-utilized land.” They want to “stay nimble, growing food between the cracks of urban development.” And, yes, Bed-Stuy is already part of the farmyard. more
NYC Community Gardens Coalition. more
Food Circles Networking Project. The goal of a Food Circle, says the Dept. of Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia, is to develop a community-based, sustainable food system by reshaping the relationships that surround food. Our dominant food system is globalized and industrialized, while Food Circles seek to create a personalized and sustainable food system. more
Other Urban Food Policy Councils. “New York is not at all in the lead in this regard compared to other cities,” says Jeff Heehs, Food Conference researcher. See what Burlington, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Atlanta are up to. more

spacer

—Paige Churchman

Reports from Other Neighborhood Meetings
Prospect Heights/Crown Heights

Food Democracy

Subscribe & Share